Muhammad Ali statue (Bates Mill No. 5)

Lewiston, Maine, has a 10-foot bronze of Muhammad Ali at the entrance to Bates Mill No. 5, put up to mark the night in 1965 when the heavyweight champion knocked out Sonny Liston there. The rematch was held on 25 May 1965 at the Central Maine Youth Center, now The Colisée. The sculptor's release says Boston withdrew and a local promoter converted the arena in 17 days; the Portland Press Herald reports it is the only heavyweight title fight ever held in Maine, and that it ended about two minutes into the first round. The statue, by Philadelphia sculptor Zenos Frudakis, was unveiled on 31 May 2025. WGME says it captures the "phantom punch" moment, and Frudakis says Ali's boxing attire, shoes and gloves were modelled on the styles he wore in the fight. The sculptor counts the 10 feet as the sculpture alone, set on a 4-foot base. Lewiston artist Charlie Hewitt and developer Tom Platz, who went to the fight with his father, began the project more than a decade earlier. Platz led fundraising from about 20 corporate and private donors, the city paid for site preparation and the concrete pad, and a crane lifted the one-ton figure into place. Frudakis told WGME it took three years to make. The sculptor's press release calls it the largest statue of Ali in the world, his own website calls it the nation's largest full-body Ali statue, and the City of Lewiston called it the nation's first full-body bronze of Ali. The city also described it as a civic statement of pride, resilience and renewal for a community healing from the worst mass shooting in Maine. The sculptor places it about 200 feet from the Auburn bridge.